Milford casino foes plead for delay

Monday

Jul 8, 2013 at 9:50 PM

By Susan Spencer, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

MILFORD — Opponents of a proposed $1 billion, 660,000-square-foot resort casino told selectmen Monday the developer has "hijacked" the town's impact analysis process and turned it into a series of "sales pitches and PR sessions."

Steven Trettel, co-chairman of Casino Free Milford, and casino opponent Robert Mitchell, a consulting engineer, urged the board to hold off on negotiating a host community agreement with Foxwoods Massachusetts until the project's details were completed and could be evaluated.

"It's a real question of credibility to their proposal," Mr. Mitchell said.

He said Foxwoods has turned the casino impact evaluation into the carnival game of whack-a-mole: "The mole just keeps popping up wherever you push the next one down."

Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Trettel noted significant changes to what was supposed to be the definitive proposal presented to the board on June 3. Major updates, which have not all been posted on the development's website, include redesign of a proposed collector-distributor roadway from the outside lanes of Interstate 495 to the median area, to comply with federal highway requirements; suggestions that water supply problems might need to be dealt with by sending laundry offsite or by getting supplemental water from another town (a request to Medway was turned down); an increase in traffic on Route 16, despite developers' original analysis that there wouldn't be an impact; and a change in siting the five-story building on the parcel so it would be 600 feet, rather than the original 2,500 feet, from nearby homes.

Selectman William D. Buckley, board chairman, agreed with the opponents' frustration about the proposal's changing details. "What I'm looking at… is the plan du jour, and it's frankly frustrating. And I find it unacceptable," he said.

Mr. Buckley and Selectman Brian W. Murray said they were particularly upset that on June 27, they assured residents on Wildwood Drive that their street would be buffered by thousands of feet from the resort. The board learned five days later that Foxwoods had moved the proposed building to 600 feet away because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found wetlands and endangered natural resources on the original site.

"Buckle up because I expect there will be more," Mr. Buckley said about shifting data he anticipated would be presented in future community impact meetings.

He also said the proposal had changed from a commitment in 2009 by Crossroads LLC, the development partner with Foxwoods, that there would a "flyover" ramp off of I-495 and no local access to the casino from Route 16.

"As representative of the entire town, I feel a responsibility to fully investigate it," Mr. Murray said about the developer's proposal.

But he agreed that with a deadline for a host agreement looming in the next month or so, "at some point, there's going to be a day of judgment."

Mr. Murray said if a host agreement were negotiated, he would ask for an abatement fund for residents whose property value declines because of proximity to the casino. He said he would ask that Foxwoods participate in the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement IMAGE program to screen employees for illegal immigration status.